Without a word, Me’lei handed one of the jagged pieces of wood to Ke’alohi, who thought it a poor weapon when put up against the large teeth of a shark. Still it was better than nothing, and he felt a bit more comfortable with the weapon in his hand. Of course they both had their knives, but that would mean getting very close to the large, strong beasts that hunted them.
“Push them away,” Me’lei instructed. “Poke them with the sharp end if you can. Hit them hard enough and they’ll become discouraged and look for an easier meal,” he explained, but Ke’alohi remained dubious. Despite his doubts, his eyes continually swept the water, looking for signs of an approaching shark. Neither noticed that the light rain had stopped but at the moment water was the last thing on their minds.
The clouds overhead were sporadic and Mahine had not yet risen. The starlight peeking through the intermittent clouds was far too faint to help them pick out the dorsal fins against the background of dark water. Again and again the sharks rammed the wa’a in an attempt to dislodge their prey, but the men stubbornly held on. Twice however, one of Io’lana’s legs slipped off the curved hull and dropped into the water, but each time Me’lei was able to pull it back out before a strike.
On and on it went, hour after hour, the sharks would close the circle and bang into the boat. Me’lei managed to knock one hard in the back and it swam quickly away, but the rest seemed far from discouraged.
It was several hours before midnight when Mahine finally made an appearance. She was gloriously full and incredibly bright and immediately helped the men spot the circling sharks…at least those near the surface.
Again and again the sharks approached only to be driven off. Occasionally one would sneak through and slam against the overturned boat, but each time the men managed to hold on. Finally, in apparent frustration, an eager shark broke the surface, jaws wide and snapping. It lurched powerfully out of the water and up the side of the wa’a attempting to snatch Io’lana off the curved, slippery hull.
Ke’alohi cried out in horror and jabbed with his stick. He managed to poke the beast lightly in the lower jaw, but the blow did little to deter the shark. It bit at the unconscious man, but miraculously came up empty and slid back into the water. Ke’alohi’s heart was pounding in his chest, but before he could even begin to relax the shark reemerged, coming up faster and higher.
“Ha!” Ke’alohi yelled at the top of his lungs and lunged, striking hard this time, hitting the shark near the gills. Ke’alohi felt the tip of the plank break off but it was enough, the shark immediately gave up his attack and glided silently away. The relentless assault and the lack of sleep slowly began to wear on the men. It was near dawn when Io’lana slipped headfirst into the water while Ke’alohi was jabbing tiredly at a shark that had just rammed the wa’a.
“Io’lana!” Me’lei yelled and without hesitation dove neatly in the water.
Ke’alohi turned as Me’lei shouted, only to see the man’s lower legs and feet slice smoothly beneath the surface. Ke’alohi considered himself to be a brave man, but he was quite sure he would not have gone into the water after his prince and friend. The feeling was reinforced by the fact that he was still clutching the overturned hull, while his shipmates were struggling in the depths of the ocean. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Io’lana broke the surface, sputtering violently, followed closely by Me’lei, who had a firm grip on the wounded man’s waist.
“Grab him!” Me’lei yelled and Ke’alohi immediately obliged. Together they wrestled the semi-conscious man back onto the relative safety of the wreckage. Me’lei remained bravely in the water until the prince was aboard and then calmly struggled to pull himself up onto the curved hull. After several attempts he managed to grab the center and pulled his body up. Before he was all the way out of the water however, his hand slipped and he slid back down into the ocean.
“Ke’alohi,” he said without panic and the younger man, who’d been busy with Io’lana, turned and reached out to help. Just as their hands clasped however, Me’lei screamed. Seconds later he was jerked so violently beneath the surface that he nearly pulled Ke’alohi from the wa’a as he went.
“Me’lei!” Ke’alohi shouted, but prudently remained on the wa’a. There was nothing that could get him into the water at this point. He crouched safely where he was, his heart hammering loudly in his chest, and tried to will Me’lei to the surface. Just as he was about to give up hope, his friend’s head appeared, eyes wide and frightened.
“Ke’alohi!” the man screamed; all semblance of calm completely chased away. Ke’alohi extended an arm, but could not reach the stricken man in the water.
“Closer!” Ke’alohi yelled in panic, stretching out as far as he dared. As the next wave swelled their fingertips brushed for a moment, but Me’lei drifted away again as the wave receded. Suddenly a shark surfaced to Me’lei’s right, mouth open revealing a pink gullet and rows and rows of sharp teeth. Ke’alohi was sure his friend would be ripped and torn into a bloody mess, but instead Me’lei jabbed the fingers of his right hand into the eye of the beast. The shark immediately bolted away.
“Me’lei!” Ke’alohi screamed, horrified as several dorsal fins glided silently toward the struggling man. The entire scene would have been strikingly beautiful, illuminated as it was in the silvery moonlight, had it not been for the chilling nature of the events.
The gods were with them however, as the next wave lifted Me’lei up and closer to the wa’a. Ke’alohi grabbed his hand tightly and with the strength of fear jerked him up and completely out of the water.
Me’lei fell heavily on the top of the overturned wa’a and screamed. Ke’alohi pulled his eyes from the circling sharks, spun, and saw that most of his friend’s lower right leg was missing. The flesh was entirely gone from the knee down, but the bone continued to mid-calf, gleaming stark white in the light of Mahine.
Ke’alohi fought down a wave of nausea and lost, but only retched up bile and spit, while Me’lei groaned and dribbled blood into the ocean. He was a dead man; they both knew it, though each avoided the thought. Ke’alohi was at a loss as what to do. Now both of his shipmates struggled with life-threatening injuries and it was quite possible neither would survive. He searched frantically for a solution, but his mind remained stubbornly blank as he gazed out across the vast ocean. Suddenly another shark emerged out of the water, slipping high up onto the overturned wa’a near Me’lei, jaws open and questing for a meal.
Me’lei screamed and rolled away from the watery nightmare only to splash in the shallow water that collected between the wa’a and the deck planking. Seconds later an eager snout rammed against the decking just beneath the injured man.
There was a loud crack as some of the planking gave way. The blow was hard enough to lift Me’lei up a few inches and break him out of his state of shock. Ke’alohi cautiously scrambled over to him, very careful to keep out of the water. He intended to help Me’lei back onto the wa’a, but before he reached him the injured man scrambled wildly back up on his own.
Me’lei hissed continuously from the pain as it seared up the missing part of his limb, nevertheless he carefully sat up. He cautiously straddled the curved hull of the wa’a, pulling what was left of his injured leg as far from the water as possible. He was growing dizzy now from the loss of blood, but even so he drew his knife and waited.
The blood from his wound drew the excited sharks to him as it trickled down into the water, but for several moments the slick predators only bumped against the wa’a in an effort to dislodge him.
“See to Io’lana,” Me’lei commanded, suddenly fearless. “Don’t let him fall into the water again.”
Ke’alohi nodded and moved carefully back until he was once more next to the unconscious man. Several sharks rammed the wa’a near Me’lei, but for the most part they ignored the other two survivors. Me’lei hung on tightly, stifling the desire to flee onto the decking, knowing there was no lasting safety there. So instead he clutched the slippery underside of the
wa’a and waited for his chance to strike back.
He didn’t have long to wait before a frustrated shark lifted his upper body out of the water, a pair of dark, dead eyes hungrily fixed on Me’lei. The wounded man tried to hold off the predator with a stiff arm to the snout, but the power of the shark easily forced him off the far side of the wa’a. Me’lei however, did not panic and calmly plunged his knife into the right eye of his attacker. The shark thrashed violently, wrenching the hilt from Me’lei’s weakened grip.
Me’Lei, his leg numb, struggled to pull himself back on top of the wa’a. By the time he finally succeeded the water was a churning mass of sharks as they attacked and killed the wounded member of their shiver. As they fed the wreckage drifted, and the frenzied mass fell farther and farther away, though the spray and the foam from the fight still glowed in the moonlight. As suddenly as it began, it was over and the water stilled.
“Ke’alohi,” Me’lei whispered into the dark. His strength was ebbing away quickly. “I need Io’lana’s knife.”
Without hesitating Ke’alohi pulled the prince’s knife from its molded wooden sheath and scurried over to Me’lei. Even in the light of Mahine, Ke’alohi could tell the older man’s gaze was glassy and unfixed. It would not be long before he too fell unconscious or worse.
“Do not worry about me,” Me’lei remarked and smiled weakly, obviously still lucid. “Protect Io’lana,” he ordered as he took the knife in his right hand. “Now get back to him before the sharks return.”
Ke’alohi glanced out into the ocean. He’d hoped after eating their brother the remaining sharks would leave them in peace, but he trusted Me’lei’s experience, so without a word he moved back to Io’lana. A few minutes later the first shark bumped into the wa’a within inches of Ke’alohi’s left leg. Ke’alohi jerked away from the contact so violently he nearly fell off the wa’a. Luckily he managed to regain his balance at the last moment. Ke’alohi’s breath was coming in short, frightened gasped as he hunted for sharks, ignoring Io’lana who was now mumbling incoherently.
Minutes passed and soon the water around the wreckage was once more filled with the sharp dorsal fins of the underwater predators. Twice more they bumped the canoe near Ke’alohi before their attention shifted almost exclusively to Me’lei and his bloody stump. Again and again they rammed the wa’a. Throughout the assault Me’lei kept surprisingly calm, coming to grips now with his impending death. He remained stubbornly latched to the wreckage despite the sharks’ frantic efforts. Ke’alohi actually began to hope that they might just lose heart and swim off to search for an easier meal.
“Hold tight!” Ke’alohi encouraged his friend just as a shark reared out of the water, hunting for a way to pull Me’lei loose, but the seasoned sailor slashed out with the knife and cut a large gash in the tip of the predator’s nose. Instead of retreating however, the shark continued to advance up the slippery side of the curved hull, jaws gnashing, white teeth brilliant in the moonlight.
“Me’lei!” Ke’alohi screamed as Me’lei desperately tried to fight off the determined animal. He might have succeeded but a second shark suddenly burst out of the water and sank its teeth into Me’lei’s knife arm. Before Ke’alohi could even react, Me’lei was jerked off the wa’a and disappeared into the depths.
The water churned and frothed where the man disappeared.
“Me’lei! Me’lei!” Ke’alohi yelled instinctively, but he knew Me’lei’s life was over. To his surprise however, a hand holding a bone knife shot to the surface and for a brief moment Ke’alohi dared to hope. Slowly, with mounting horror, he realized that the hand and forearm was no longer attached to a body, and just floating lazily on the surface. His friend was gone. Everyone was gone. Ke’alohi was alone, utterly alone, drifting across the dark sea with the unconscious prince.
♀
Ke’alohi heard the far off roar even before the sky began to lighten in the east. It was a powerful, rolling sound. For the inexperienced it could be mistaken for thunder, but Ke’alohi had lived near the ocean his entire life, and knew what the sound meant. It was the distant pounding of the surf; the sound of endless waves crashing against the beach of some hidden land; it was the sound of sanctuary and survival.
“Io’lana! Io’lana!” He cried to the unconscious man. “Land…there’s land!”
Ke’alohi spun around and gazed out into the darkness, but could see no sign of the phosphorous glow of the turbulent surf. Even so, the darkness could not dim his happiness, and as the minutes passed the sound of the crashing waves grew steadily louder.
“We’re going to make it,” Ke’alohi whispered to his friend just as a large mouth, with rows and rows of sharp teeth appeared out of the sea and lunged toward his leg. Ke’alohi screamed wildly and instinctively shifted away from the convulsing, questing maw. Before he could right himself both men slid off the far side of the wa’a and down into the narrow gap where the canoe met the decking. The edge of the decking kept them from falling completely into the ocean, but even so Io’lana’s left arm hung down in the water dangerously. Ke’alohi floundered for a moment as he tried to push his friend up and climb at the same time.
Ke’alohi panicked, but quickly realized he had to climb up first if they had any hope of getting out of the water. Reluctantly he let go of Io’lana and quickly pulled himself back on the wa’a. Ke’alohi could sense the sharks circling closer as he fought to pull his friend to safety.
Ke’alohi cursed the gods as he knelt on the wet hull and struggled with the dead weight of the unconscious body. Suddenly angry, he pulled with all the strength he had remaining and the body shot out of the water and onto the wa’a.
Ke’alohi spent several seconds trying to balance his friend on the crest of the hull, but before the two men were completely settled another shark slammed into the wa’a just below them. Ke’alohi yelled and kicked out instinctively, but did not hit anything. When he finally got his friend secured his anger returned and he blindly drew his knife and swiped several times below the surface. He saw nothing and hit nothing, and after several moments he regained his senses and pulled his arm back out of the water.
“Ke’alohi,” Io’lana whispered and at first the young man did not register the sound.
“Ke’alohi,” the prince repeated softly, and this time Ke’alohi’s head jerked around.
“Io’lana!” he cried, happy not to be alone for at least a short time.
“Where are we Ke’alohi?” He asked, clearly confused.
“Still trapped on the overturned wa’a,” Ke’alohi answered, very relieved to have another person to talk to. “But Io’lana we’re close to land…can you hear the surf pounding?” He asked and shifted his eyes to the west. To his surprise he could see the beach in the dim light of the early morning. They were close, very close, though he could make out few details. The sky in the east had gone from deep black to a dark purple, but the sun was still many minutes from breaking the horizon, even so Ke’alohi’s spirit soared. The current was pushing them directly toward land.
As the day slowly brightened Ke’alohi was able to make out the dorsal fins of several sharks as they continued to search for an easy meal. To his surprise there did not appear to be many…perhaps only a half a dozen or so, though he could not be sure, more could be hiding in the depths. For some reason however, they kept their distance as the wreckage floated ever closer to the safety of the beach. The sound of the surf was incredibly loud now; a sound full of happiness, as if a great crowd was cheering, clapping and rejoicing their sudden arrival.
“Io’lana I see it! I see the beach!” Ke’alohi exclaimed excitedly and his injured friend actually smiled, but as the sun finally broke the horizon Ke’alohi craned his neck and frowned.
The surf broke well out away from the beach, undoubtedly because of some hidden reef or shoal. Normally that would not worry him greatly, for he was a strong swimmer, but if the decking and wa’a did not survive the journey through the breaking waves, he would have to swim
the distance with Io’lana…and the sharks were still on the hunt.
Ke’alohi quickly decided he couldn’t just sit around and wait, so he drew his knife and stared out at the circling fins and prepared to attack. He would try to wound one and so draw the others off. Just the thought of going on the offensive lifted the young man’s spirit. Much like a shark, Ke’alohi needed to be constantly moving forward to thrive. Thankfully he didn’t have time to lose his new found determination before a shark sliced through the waves, heading directly for him.
Ke’alohi shifted his weight, his entire concentration now on the threat from below. As the shark drew near, he readied his knife but instead of emerging from the water the shark dove and drifted by without a sound. However, as Ke’alohi’s attention was on the first, a second shark whipped in and broke the surface. The beast’s eyes were black and empty; its mouth open and ready. Ke’alohi did not flinch however; instead he pushed at the shark’s nose with a stiff left arm and then slashed across the side of its head with the knife. The shark bolted off so quickly that Ke’alohi was not sure whether he’d cut through the tough, thick skin.
He intently watched the circling fins as the sun rose higher above the horizon. The pounding surf was growing louder behind him, but the young man did not turn. Another shark glided close but remained under the surface before shooting away and out of sight. Out farther, the water suddenly churned and bloomed red. The sharks circling near the wa’a quickly retreated and Ke’alohi sighed, hoping the distraction would be enough. Finally he turned back to the beckoning land, and was once more filled with hope.
One Life Well and Truly Promised Page 14